It is known to provide overhead support framing for hospital beds to assist in the treatment and movement of bed patients. Such framing is variously constructed and generally includes upright support members suitably attached to the head and foot of the bed and interconnected by one or more horizontal members. The horizontal members extend the length of the bed in spaced relation above the mattress and patient at a height to support various orthopedic equipment, such as a hand trapeze, pulleys, weights, and interconnecting support lines.
It is also known to specifically provide an orthopedic traction frame for adjustable hospital beds in which the foot portion of the bed moves toward and away from the head portion of the bed to angularly position portions of the mattress. One such traction frame comprises a pair of upright support members, or bars, respectively attached to the head and foot portions of the bed and interconnected at their upper ends by a generally horizontal support member, or bar, to which orthopedic equipment may be attached. To allow movement of the foot portion of the bed toward and away from the head for angular positioning of the mattress, the end of the upper horizontal support member is equipped with a special hinge for pivotal attachment of the horizontal member to the upper end of the upright support member at the foot of the bed. Specifically, the end of the horizontal member is provided with a short rod element pivotally attached in a longitudinal slot in the end portion of the nember. The end of the rod element is received into the upper end of the upright member at the foot of the bed to provide pivotal interconnection of the two members. The upright support member at the foot of the bed is in turn pivotally attached to a horizontal T-bar mounted on the foot of the bed. In this manner, the upright member is free to pivot at both of its ends about axes transverse to the length of the bed to allow the foot of the bed to move toward or away from the head of the bed and angularly position portions of the mattress and bed patient.
With such adjustable traction framing as described, the upright support member at the foot of the bed will generally be disposed in a non-vertical position, which reduces the load bearing capacity of the traction frame. In addition, since the horizontal member is equipped with a special hinge for use with adjustable hospital beds, it is a special framing component which must be stocked apart from use in other traction framing constructions.